Enrollment
84
Middle
DISTRICT 114 · STATE 187
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·MCCOOK CENTRAL SCHOOL DISTRICT 43-7·NCES 460102601034
McCook Central Middle School - 03
200 E Essex, Salem, SD 57058 · (605) 425-2264 · McCook County
GRADES 06–08MIDDLE43-RURALREGULAR SCHOOL84 STUDENTS
D
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 7% of South Dakota public middle schools
- C-Test scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- FBeats expectations How far test scores land above or below what the share of low-income students predicts for a school in this state.
- ·Three-year trend Not available for this school, so the grade uses the other parts.
Grades compare a school only with schools in the same state, because every state gives its own test. How grades work · Top-graded South Dakota public middle schools
Student : Teacher
13.3:1
6 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 15.4:1 · STATE 13.4:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
26%
22 students
DISTRICT 23% · STATE 42%
Community
0
0 members
Enrollment and student:teacher ratio compared against other middle schools. Free/Reduced Lunch and demographics compared against all schools.
Enrollment by grade, 2024-25
| Grade | Students | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Grade 6 | 26 | 31% |
| Grade 7 | 32 | 38% |
| Grade 8 | 26 | 31% |
Student demographics
18%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 14% · STATE 53% · US 70%
Student head counts by race/ethnicity from federal NCES enrollment data. District, state, and US figures are each group's share of all public school students in that area (US excludes territories). Very small groups may be suppressed in the source, so categories do not always sum exactly to total enrollment.
Gender split
School pathway
Students here typically continue to
McCook Central Middle School - 03→McCook Central High School - 01
Feeds from
Based on grade levels within McCook Central School District 43-7. Attendance zones can vary; confirm enrollment with the district.
QUIET COMMUNITY
Be the first to start a discussion at McCook Central Middle School - 03.
START A DISCUSSIONTest scores
SD Smarter Balanced 2024-25 . % ProficientEnglish Language Arts
41.5%
SD avg 50.3% . +4.5pp since 2022
Math
30.5%
SD avg 47.5% . -1.0pp since 2022
What this means: On the SD Smarter Balanced, South Dakota's statewide test, about 42 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 31 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all South Dakota schools, those numbers are about 50 and 47. Reading and writing scores are up about 5 points since 2022, while math scores are down about 1 points.
SD Smarter Balanced results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 41.5% | 30.5% |
| 2023-24 | 37.2% | 31.0% |
| 2022-23 | 37.0% | 31.5% |
% Proficient, all students and all tested grades.
Source: SD Smarter Balanced. All students, all grades. See all years and grades →
BeatsExpectations
Demographically-adjusted score · methodologyTier
UNDERPERFORMING
Bottom 10% of SD schools after controlling for student poverty
Actual proficiency
32.1%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
52.3%
based on SD schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-20.2pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 32% of students here test proficient in math and reading, below the roughly 52% typical for South Dakota schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations compares each school with others at the same poverty level, not by raw scores, so a school lands here when its results trail those comparable schools, which is not the same as having low scores. A higher-scoring school can still fall in this tier if similar schools score higher still.
BeatsExpectations runs a per-state regression of proficiency on free/reduced-lunch share, then scores each school by residual. How this is calculated →
Schools most like McCook Central Middle School - 03
McCook Central Middle School - 03's state test result (32.1% proficient) is higher than 0 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| McCook Central Middle School - 03 this school | 84 | 26.2% | 32.1% |
| Clear Lake Middle School - 04 Clear Lake | 104 | 26.0% | 55.6% |
| Custer Jr. High - 05 Custer | 101 | 27.7% | 60.7% |
| Bridgewater-Emery Middle School - 04 Emery | 85 | 25.9% | 50.9% |
| Avon Middle School - 05 Avon | 63 | 25.4% | 48.0% |
| Webster Area Middle School - 02 Webster | 108 | 25.9% | 53.1% |
Matched among South Dakota middle schools on enrollment, the share of students from low-income families (eligible for free or reduced-price lunch), and racial and ethnic makeup. Proficient is the average share of students meeting the state standard across all of the school's state tests in 2023-24 and 2024-25, the same combined score our test-score rankings use. Online schools and schools serving specialized populations are not matched.
Where McCook Central Middle School - 03 ranks
Among middle schools| Measure | This school | In South Dakota |
|---|---|---|
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 84 | #77 of 165 |
Ranked against other public middle schools. Online schools are left out of every list, and test-score lists leave out schools that serve specialized populations. Each rank links to the full list. Arrows under a test-score rank show places moved since the prior test year, among schools tested both years.
4-year change
SY 2020-21 vs SY 2024-25Enrollment
84
-20 (-19%) vs 2020
+31% since 1990-91, when it was 64
Student : Teacher
13.3:1
was 14.9:1
Source: NCES Common Core of Data
Enrollment and staffing by year
| School year | Students | Teachers (FTE) | Students per teacher | Free and reduced lunch |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 84 | 6.3 | 13.3:1 | 26% (22) |
| 2023-24 | 115 | 7.2 | 16.0:1 | 22% (25) |
| 2022-23 | 96 | 7 | 13.7:1 | 18% (17) |
| 2020-21 | 104 | 7 | 14.9:1 | 23% (24) |
| 2017-18 | 91 | 7.1 | 12.8:1 | 22% (20) |
| 2015-16 | 62 | 6 | 10.3:1 | 37% (23) |
| 2010-11 | 98 | 9 | 10.9:1 | 35% (34) |
| 2000-01 | 76 | 6 | 12.7:1 | 33% (25) |
| 1990-91 | 64 | 5 | 12.8:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for McCook Central Middle School - 03.
Since 2017-18: students down 8% (91 to 84); teachers down 11% (7.1 to 6.3).
About McCook Central Middle School - 03
McCook Central Middle School - 03 is a middle-grades school in Salem, South Dakota, reachable at (605) 425-2264. The school had 84 students in grades 6 through 8 in 2024-25. An average school in this group (middle schools in South Dakota) has about 187 students.
Federal data list 4 schools in McCook Central School District 43-7, with 455 students enrolled.
Most students at McCook Central Middle School - 03 are White: 90% of enrollment. Smaller groups are 5% Hispanic and 5% multiracial. For comparison, McCook County is about 93% White. McCook Central Middle School - 03 has a diversity index of 18%, compared with 70% for all US public school students.
Federal staffing data show 6.3 full-time-equivalent teachers at McCook Central Middle School - 03 and a ratio of 13.3:1. Middle schools in South Dakota average about 13.4:1, a similar figure. The count of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch equals 26% of enrollment. That is close to the 23% average for public schools in McCook County.
allk12 grades McCook Central Middle School - 03 a D. The grade compares the school only with South Dakota public middle schools, because each state gives its own test.
McCook Central Middle School - 03 falls short of its prediction by 20.2 points. The model expects 52.3% for a school with its free or reduced-price lunch share in South Dakota; the school's rate is 32.1%.
McCook County has these Census figures: median household income is about $83,852, about 30% of adults have at least a bachelor's degree, and the poverty rate is about 6%. McCook Central Middle School - 03 is among the 12 public schools in McCook County.
The closest public school, McCook Central High School - 01, is less than a tenth of a mile from McCook Central Middle School - 03. Within five miles are 3 other public schools. On average proficiency, McCook Central Middle School - 03 is 5th of 5 nearby schools with test data.
On the NCES locale scale, the school is Rural: Remote.
Enrollment was 104 in 2020-21 and 84 in 2024-25, a decrease of 20 students. The student-to-teacher ratio fell from 14.9:1 in 2020-21 to 13.3:1 in 2024-25.
Posts about school safety, transportation, and start times are welcome on this page. Questions from prospective families are welcome too.
McCook County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
5,751
Census ACS
Median income
$83,852
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
30%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
6%
Below federal line
Schools in county
12
1,172 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in McCook Central School District 43-7
- McCook Central Elementary - 02Elementary · 225 students
- McCook Central High School - 01High · 118 students
- Goldenview Colony School - 04Elementary · 28 students
Other schools in Salem
- McCook Central Elementary - 02Elementary · 225 students
- McCook Central High School - 01High · 118 students
- Goldenview Colony School - 04Elementary · 28 students
Nearby schools
- McCook Central High School - 010.0 mi · 118
- McCook Central Elementary - 020.0 mi · 225
- Goldenview Colony School - 043.9 mi · 28
- Canistota High School - 0110.1 mi · 99
- Canistota Middle School - 0310.1 mi · 68
- Canistota Elementary - 0210.1 mi · 141
Frequently asked questions
About McCook Central Middle School - 03What is the total enrollment at McCook Central Middle School - 03?
McCook Central Middle School - 03 enrolls approximately 84 students in grades 06-08.
What age range does McCook Central Middle School - 03 serve?
McCook Central Middle School - 03 serves students from grade 06 through grade 08.
How many teachers does McCook Central Middle School - 03 have?
McCook Central Middle School - 03 employs 6 FTE teachers, for a student-to-teacher ratio of 13.3:1.
What is the racial breakdown of students at McCook Central Middle School - 03?
At McCook Central Middle School - 03, the student body is approximately 90% White, 5% Hispanic, 5% Two or more.
Is McCook Central Middle School - 03 public or private?
McCook Central Middle School - 03 is a public K-12 school, overseen by McCook Central School District 43-7.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.